The present invention relates to a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body, and more particularly to a bracket for mounting, for example, a sun visor with an electrical equipment or the like to a vehicle body.
As an auxiliary machinery provided in an automobile, as shown in FIG. 1, there are, for example, a sun visor 102 with an electrical equipment placed in a roof trim 101 above a driver""s seat and an assistant driver""s seat, a movable room lamp 103 placed substantially at a center of the roof trim 101 and the like. Mounting opening portions 104, 105 and 106 are formed at respective positions of the roof trim 101 where the auxiliary machinery is mounted, as shown in FIG. 1. These sun visors 102 and the room lamp 103 are mounted to the mounting opening portions 104, 105 and 106 by using a bracket for mounting to a vehicle body.
In a first technique which the inventors have considered, as shown in FIG. 2, the sun visor 102 is mounted to the roof trim 101 including an inner panel (not shown) by using a visor side bracket 108 provided in a front end portion of a fixed shaft 107 and a panel side bracket 109. In this case, the visor side bracket 108 and the panel side bracket 109 are fixed to the roof trim 101 by being screwed.
Further, as a second technique, there is a structure shown in FIG. 3. In this mounting structure, a visor side bracket 110 to which the front end portion of the fixed shaft 107 is rotatably mounted is attached and mounted to a panel side bracket 111 fixed to the roof trim 101 side. In particular, the panel side bracket 111 is provided with an engaging piece 112 protruding downward, and the visor side bracket 110 is provided with an engagement portion 113 engaged with the engaging piece 112 of the panel side bracket 111. At a mounting time, an operation of pressing the visor side bracket 110 to the panel side bracket 111 is performed so that the engaging piece 112 of the panel side bracket 111 fixed to the roof trim 101 side is inserted to the engagement portion 113.
Further, as a third technique, there is a structure shown in FIG. 4. In this mounting structure, the front end portion of the fixed shaft 107 is rotatably mounted to a panel side bracket 114, and a visor side bracket 116 is attached to the panel side bracket 114. In particular, the panel side bracket 114 is provided with an engaging piece 115 protruding downward, and an engagement portion 117 for engaging the engaging piece 115 is formed in the visor side bracket 116. Then, the panel side bracket 114 and the visor side bracket 116 are connected so as to mount the sun visor 102 by pressing the visor side bracket 116 to the engaging piece 115 protruding to a passenger""s room side from the mounting opening portion formed in the roof trim 101 so that the engagement portion 117 is engaged.
However, in the mounting structure shown in FIG. 2, since a weight of the sun visor 102 is supported only by the mounting portion holding the front end portion of the fixed shaft 107, there is a problem that a moment of rotation is generated in the mounting portion and a shaky state and a foreign noise are easily generated in the mounting portion of the fixed shaft 107. Accordingly, in the mounting structure shown in FIG. 2, a fixing strength capable of resisting against the moment of rotation is required.
Further, in the mounting structure shown in FIG. 3, since the fixed shaft 107 is supported by the visor side bracket 110, it is necessary to increase an engaging strength between the engaging piece 112 of the panel side bracket 111 and the engagement portion 113 of the visor side bracket 110. Accordingly, a force required for inserting the engaging piece 112 to the engagement portion 113 is increased and there is a problem that an assembling operability and a take-out operability are deteriorated.
Further, in the mounting structure shown in FIG. 4, it is necessary to form a lock canceling hole 118 for canceling an engagement between the engaging piece 115 and the engagement portion 117 in the case of taking out the visor side bracket 116. In this mounting structure, since it is necessary to simultaneously cancel the engagement between all the engaging pieces 115 and all the engagement portions 117 within the lock canceling hole 118, an operability is bad and there is a problem that a design characteristic is deteriorated since the lock canceling hole 118 is formed.
Accordingly, the present invention has been achieved by taking the matters mentioned above into consideration, and an object of the present invention is to a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body which can make a mounting operation and a take-out operation easy and can prevent a shaky state and a foreign sound of an auxiliary machinery from being generated.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body mounting bracket for fixing an auxiliary machinery to a panel in a vehicle body side comprising: a first bracket arranging and supporting the auxiliary machinery to one side; a shaft supporting portion protruded from the first bracket and fitting a fixed shaft supporting the auxiliary machinery to another side; an engaging portion formed near a peripheral wall portion of the shaft supporting portion; a second bracket holding the first bracket; an engagement portion which is formed on the second bracket and with which the engaging portion is engaged by assembling the first bracket; and fixing means fixing the first bracket and the second bracket to the panel.
According to the invention described in the first aspect structured in the manner mentioned above, the engaging portion formed near the peripheral wall portion of the shaft supporting portion protruded from another side of the first bracket is engaged with the engagement portion of the second bracket at a time of assembling the first bracket and the second bracket, thereby reinforcing a mechanical strength near the shaft supporting portion. Accordingly, since the fixed shaft of the auxiliary machinery is held not only by the shaft supporting portion of the first bracket but also the engagement portion of the second bracket, the fixed shaft of the auxiliary machinery serves to prevent the shaky state from being generated.
Next, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the first aspect, further comprising an opening portion which is formed in the second bracket and to which the shaft supporting portion is inserted, and a guide holding plate forming the engagement portion to which the engaging portion is slidably inserted, in a peripheral edge portion of the opening portion.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the first aspect, the shaft supporting portion of the first bracket is inserted to the opening portion formed in the second bracket. Since at this time, the engaging portion formed near the peripheral wall portion of the shaft supporting portion is inserted in a sliding manner to the engagement portion of the guide holding plate provided in the peripheral edge portion of the opening portion in the second bracket, it is possible to reinforce the shaft supporting portion only by assembling the first bracket and the second bracket.
Next, according to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the second aspect, further comprising a locking projection locked in a state that the engaging portion is engaged with the engagement portion and formed in the engaging portion or the engagement portion.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the third aspect, since the locking projection formed in the guide portion side or the guide groove side is locked with another side in a state that guide portion is inserted to the guide groove, it is possible to assembly and hold both the elements by connecting the first bracket to the second bracket. In this case, since the locking projection locking the first bracket and the second bracket can be mounted in a so-called semi-locked state at a time of fixing both the elements to the panel, it is possible to make the mounting operation of the vehicle body mounting bracket easily.
Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the third aspect, wherein the engaging portion is a guide portion protruding to a side portion of the shaft supporting portion, and the engagement portion is a guide groove formed in the guide holding plate.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the fourth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the third aspect, it is possible to achieve a smooth assembly between the first bracket and the second bracket and reinforce the strength of the shaft supporting portion by a simple structure of forming the guide groove in the guide holding plate.
Further, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the fourth aspect, wherein the engaging portion is a step portion formed below the guide portion and engaging with the engaging projection.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the fourth aspect, since the step portion is engaged with the engaging projection after the guide portion is slid to the guide groove, the first bracket and the second bracket can be further securely fixed to each other.
Further, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the first aspect, wherein the second bracket is arranged in such a manner as to be brought into contact with the panel, and the first bracket is arranged in a front side in a mounting direction from the second bracket.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the sixth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the first aspect, the second bracket is brought into contact with the panel in the side of the vehicle body and firmly fixed by the fixing means. The first bracket is arranged in the front side in the mounting direction from the second bracket, however, can be fixed to the side of the panel together with the second bracket by the fixing means. Since at this time, the first bracket and the second bracket are longitudinally arranged in the mounting direction, a supporting point in the first bracket holding the shaft supporting portion and a supporting point in the second bracket holding the side of the shaft supporting portion by the engagement portion are set at different positions, so that a moment generated due to an empty weight of the auxiliary machinery applied to the fixed shaft attached to the first bracket is held by two supporting points. Accordingly, it is possible to increase rigidity near the shaft supporting portion and prevent the foreign sound generated by the shaky state of the fixed shaft from being generated.
Further, according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the first aspect, wherein the shaft supporting portion is a cylindrical body protruded from another side of the first bracket, and a cylindrical hole of the cylindrical body is formed in such a manner as to extend through the first bracket.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the seventh aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the first aspect, since the shaft supporting portion is the cylindrical body, it is possible to attach the fixed shaft by inserting the fixed shaft into the cylindrical hole. Since the cylindrical body is held by the first bracket and the second bracket, it is possible to firmly support the fixed shaft inserted to the shaft supporting portion.
Further, according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the seventh aspect, wherein the cylindrical body is protruded from the first bracket obliquely upward.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the eighth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the seventh aspect, since the empty weight of the auxiliary machinery can be supported by a whole surface of the lower surface of the cylindrical hole via the fixed shaft, the shaky state and the foreign sound are hard to be generated in the mounting portion.
Further, according to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the first aspect, further comprising connectors arranged in the first bracket and the second bracket and connected to each other in a paired manner in a state of assembling the first and second brackets, wherein a wire connected to an electrical equipment of the auxiliary machinery is connected to the connector arranged in the first bracket, and a wire in a side of the vehicle body is connected to the connector arranged in the second bracket.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the ninth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the first aspect, it is possible to transmit an electric power and a signal to the auxiliary machinery side by assembling the first bracket and the second bracket. Since the pair of connectors provided in the first bracket and the second bracket can be automatically connected by assembling both of the brackets, it is possible to easily perform a connecting operation.
Further, according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bracket for mounting an auxiliary machinery to a vehicle body as described in the first aspect, wherein a spacer piece brought into contact with the other bracket so as to keep a predetermined distance with respect to the other bracket is formed in the first bracket or the second bracket.
Therefore, according to the invention described in the tenth aspect, in addition to the effect of the invention described in the first aspect, since it is possible to keep the interval between the first bracket and the second bracket at a predetermined size by the spacer piece, it is possible to the first bracket from excessively pressing a trim surface with taking a thickness of the trim into consideration, for example, in the case that the trims or the like is arranged on the panel in an overlapping manner. Further, since the interval between the first bracket and the second bracket is secured, it is possible to set a distance between a base portion of the shaft supporting portion held by the first bracket and a position held by the engagement portion of the second bracket engaged with the engaging portion formed near the peripheral wall portion of the shaft supporting portion to a long distance, so that it is possible to apply a rigidity capable of resisting against a moment generated in the fixed shaft to the shaft supporting portion.